Accepting compliments goes beyond simply hearing nice words — it’s about noticing when others show appreciation and allowing those words to sink in. It teaches a person to pay attention to the good things others see in them. For some people, this can feel uncomfortable because they’re unsure how to react, but it’s a skill that can help build confidence and strengthen their sense of self.
The Accepting Compliments Worksheets feature two worksheets: Accepting Compliments and Accepting Compliments Practice. One worksheet guides clients to reflect on compliments they’ve received, who gave them, and how it made them feel. The other worksheet asks questions that allow clients to practice their responses and reflect on accepting compliments.
These activities help kids and teens build self-awareness and social-emotional skills. Once done, they can keep their completed pages somewhere they can revisit to remind themselves of their progress and the encouraging words they’ve received.
Caring adults can support this by giving simple, sincere daily compliments and encouraging young people to practice their responses. They can also set aside small moments, like role-playing or sharing daily highlights, to help children feel more at ease when compliments come their way.
These worksheets pair nicely with our Accepting Feedback handout.
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References:
- Dirgeyasa, I. W. (2015). The compliment: Its concepts, functions, common topics, and typical responses in communication. In Proceedings of ISELT FBS Universitas Negeri Padang (Vol. 3, pp. 227–232).
- Lau, T. M. (2025). Compliments and approaches to compliment responses. International Review of Pragmatics, 17(1), 165-180. https://doi.org/10.1163/18773109-01701007
- Tajeddin, Z., & Ghamari, M. R. (2011). The effect of instruction in pragmatics: Compliments & Compliment responses. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(9). https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.1.9.1078-1090
